


The Guardians of Earth

by crestfallenTemperance



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Guardian Angels, Child Abuse, Child Death, M/M, Michael isn't a dick, Nightmares, Past Child Abuse, Psychic Dean Winchester, Sort Of, Soulmates, Trans Dean Winchester, it's complicated - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-08
Updated: 2018-05-19
Packaged: 2019-04-20 08:24:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 9,293
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14256891
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crestfallenTemperance/pseuds/crestfallenTemperance
Summary: Castiel Novak is recruited to The Guardians of Earth with no memory of his past life. He is to protect a human on Earth. The only problem is he is being hunted down by a man he recognizes but doesn't know.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> I'm gonna apologize now, I'm pulling a Welcome to Cybervale with this so I can just write this damn book. So, this wont be up forever.  
> Comments on spelling errors and editing are very much encouraged and appreciated.  
> Enjoy!

Castiel ceased to cry out as the beating also ceased to stop. Of course he had cried at first, that’s just natural for a child who is in pain. But he was just too tired to cry now. He still whimpered slightly, but it was barely audible. The young boy could feel his life draining away from him. He was of course too young to actually realize that was what he was feeling. He felt just so very, very tired.

When he finally stopped making any audible noise and stopped moving really, Castiel’s father stopped beating him. He dropped the limp boy to the cold, yet surprisingly soft, forest floor. Castiel faced upwards but he fought to keep his eyes open. But he was just so, so tired. He just wanted to sleep, that was all he could think about. He was so tired his eyes felt like they were going to droop closed at any moment, but, he somehow made himself focus one last time. 

The last thing that Castiel saw before death, which he thought was just sleep, took him into her sweet, sweet, comfortable embrace was his father’s angry, drunken face glaring down at him.


	2. Chapter 1

He felt like he was floating, just, not really suspended by anything. Drifting lazily on maybe air or maybe nothing. Sure didn’t feel like water, water had weight beneath you. It constantly felt like you would be dragged down beneath the surface to drown. No, this feeling of floating it literally felt like, nothing. It was nice and oh so calming.

There really wasn’t much to care about, at all in fact. It was all just so, so peaceful.

It was also quite dark. The kind of inky darkness you only find in sealed lightless rooms. The kind of darkness where you can’t tell if your eyes are opened or closed. But it wasn’t frightening, in fact it was quite calming. He felt safe in this dark floating place. There was no sound, or light, or object that could hurt him here. It was just him and the silent blackness.

Except it wasn’t just him and the weightless soundless dark. There was also nothing too at the same time. Everything else was slight and easily went unnoticed when not actively thought about. For example, there was a slight warmth to the environment. It was like the idea of warmth though. There was also a slight happiness that he felt, but he mostly felt absolutely nothing at all.

Something suddenly caught his attention. A slight flicker of something brighter than the darkness. It had caught his eye by way of natural instinct to look at something moving. When he tried to focus on it, it vanished into the blackness. He decided to ignore it, it was probably nothing. His mind wandered back to the calm bliss of where ever he was. Another flicker caught his attention. This too vanished when he looked directly at is. He was going to ignore it too but there was another one just in the edge of his vision.

He was now starting to feel something other than blankness with a touch of happiness. He could only describe it as confusion. This emotion was quickly building, clouding out other thoughts as more and more flickers appeared. All in the edges of his vision. All disappearing the moment he looked at them. He kept trying to focus on them, his confusion building and building.

It was becoming too much for him. He shut his eyes tight and the flickers vanished. He sighed and the calm returned. After a very short time he forgot about the flickers and his eyes opened of their own accord.

The moment he did, the calm fled, replaced by shock and confusion. The darkness was gone, replaced by dull dark pictures. No, not pictures, moving scenes. The shock faded quickly as he watched the scene of a little boy running unfold before his eyes. The little boy looked happy as another boy appeared, following him. There was no sound but he could hear the children laughing in his head.

The scene changed. This time the boy was being read to by a woman. The boy was struggling to keep his eyes opened and when they did close the scene changed again.

He kept watching these ever changing scenes. The only constant in them was this same little boy who seemed to be the focal point of all that he was seeing. The scenes also were very happy.

He was so engrossed in these scenes with the little bot that he didn’t notice the darkness fading and the scenes brightening. They were now about as bright as a lit classroom. He forgot darkness existed, these scenes his new reality.

A slight change came over the scenes. A man kept reoccurring. He seemed nice at first and so went unnoticed. But more and more he had a sour face on. A happy birthday party scene turned into the boy sitting in his room covering his ears. He could hear yelling in his head even though there was no sound.

The scene shifted again, and again. Faster and faster. All becoming more and more sad and dark (figuratively speaking, the images were still getting brighter). One came of the boy being held by the man as the woman who had been reading to him drove away. The boy was crying. The scenes turned worse after that.

They became a swath of school and home and the man but angry and yelling. He was now starting to panic, his calm dark place now chaotic and terrifying. Soon scenes of the man hitting the boy began cropping up throughout.

He couldn’t close his eyes or look away. The scenes kept assaulting him. He just wanted them to stop. He remembered the calm darkness. He wanted to go back to that. He wanted peace.

But the images kept coming, just getting worse and worse. One came of the boy hiding under his bed. The next was the man shoving the boy into a car. The next a blur of outside scenery as the car drove.

His panic started rising. This seemed very familiar to him. He could almost sense what was coming. It wasn’t good.

It was so bright now that he couldn’t really see the scenes any more. His panic was causing a high pitched noise in his ears. He wanted to escape, to run, to get away.   
He didn’t know what from but he couldn’t stop panicking. Everything was just bright painful light and loud painful noise now and he wanted it to stop.

He suddenly felt sharp pain in the area of his navel and a forceful tug. All too soon he was being dragged out of that bright loud hell. He crashed into something hard and he gasped. He was now on something hard and solid, he could feel gravity. A sharp cold splashed over him and his eyes shot open as he started gasping and coughing, trying to breathe after not doing so for so so long.

Where ever he was, it was bright, but not as bright as that hell he had just been in.

“Get up, come on!” a rough voice barked at him.

He looked up at an incredibly tall dark man. The man was blocking some of the light and as his eyes adjusted he saw blood red eyes staring down at him.

“I said get up! Come on, you need to get going, the rest of your batch is already dressed!”

He blinked at the man blearily. Then he looked at the floor and by proxy his hands but they were blurry and he couldn’t focus on them. He didn’t know how he knew how to stand but he managed to with a struggle. When he did he teetered but something warm and solid prevented him from falling. He looked at his shoulder and saw a large hand there. The hand belonged to the tall dark stranger.

The man handed him a white bundle.

“Dress yourself then follow the others.”

He looked at the white bundle then back where the man had been, but he was now gone. He saw a grouping of others dressed in white at the corner of the room.

He looked at the bundle again and unwrapped it, finding it was a set of pure white clothing. He realized he was cold and quickly pulled on the shirt, pants, and long coat he had been given. There were no shoes or socks but he didn’t question why.

He stumbled over to the group, bumping into a few others. Not he nor them made any sound. They just stumbled a bit and stood standing. He couldn’t see well, everything was just so bright.

He was so distracted that he didn’t notice the person talking until he was poked in the middle of the chest. He blinked and looked up at the woman in front of him.

“You, Castiel Novak, you are part of group two. Don’t forget your name.”

The woman moved onto another. He, Castiel, watched her for a short time before a shout caught his attention. He looked to the direction of the noise and saw a large tower with someone a top it. They were shouting to get the attention of the bleary group. When they did, they spoke.

“Welcome new recruits! You have all been given your names and group numbers now, don’t forget them! I know you all are probably confused and groggy, but let me assure you that is perfectly normal! You will be sorted by group and then inducted. You are now part of The Guardians of Earth. Your group leader will instruct you on what that means and why you all are here. Now, if you please, look to the gates which now will be lit up,” all heads turned, looking at four different gates, all lit with different colours, “group one people go to the green gate. Group two people go to the blue gate. Group three people to the red gate. And group four to the purple gate. Good luck.”

The person stopped speaking and instantly all the gathered people started stumbling to their specific gates. Castiel went through the blue one with several others.   
They entered a small room. Inside was a short woman and a door.

Once everyone was inside the room, the gate closed and the woman spoke.

“Welcome group two. I am Hannah, your group leader. Please follow me to the next room. There you will be given some injections to bring you up to full strength and wakefulness.”

The door behind her swung open and she turned, walking through it. The group shuffled behind her, all mindlessly following directions. They walked down a long dark corridor. The low light level was nice actually after being blinded in the other rooms. Castiel began looking around in the lower light.

He was slightly shocked to see that the other people around him were featureless. They were all like blank canvas ready for paint. He wondered if he too looked like this. He didn’t get to wonder this very long as the group stopped.

They were standing in front of two double doors. Hannah pushed open the doors with a small struggle. They looked to be quite heavy. She held one open and the group filed past.

The next room was large and segmented into smaller rooms by white curtains. People stood by each of the smaller rooms with clip boards.

“I hope you all still remember your names. Each of you find the doctor with your name please.”

Hannah just stood guard by the door, her voice had been soft but still echoed in the large room.

The group stayed still for a moment. Then the peop- the doctors started calling out names. The group dispersed as they heard their names called.

“Castiel Novak? Castiel Novak!”

Castiel turned his head and walked over to the voice calling his name. He found the owner of the voice, a kind looking young man. He smiled at Castiel when he saw him.

“Just take a sit on the bed please.”

Castiel did and the man closed the curtain. The little room had a white bed, a white chair, a little table with various instruments on it and a computer set up. Castiel looked around as the doctor set down his clip board. Castiel watched as he took a seat.

“I’m Doctor Gabriel, but you can just call me Gabe.”

The ma- Gabe, put out his hand and Castiel shook it. In doing so, he caught sight of his own hand which was white, pure white. He pulled his hand away and stared at it, turning it back and forth. It was definitely in the shape of a hand but beyond that, it had no features.

“Ah, that’s normal. Don’t worry, we’ll get that fixed up in a jiffy.”

Castiel looked at Gabe and watched him pull the little table closer. He picked up an arm band that was attached to a long cord.

“I’m going to put this on your arm and have you lay down. Then I’m going to hook this up to the computer and presto, you’ll look like a person.”

Castiel was wary but he allowed Gabe to put the arm band on him. He laid down as instructed and heard a click as the device was connected to the computer.

“Alright, just got to pull up your profile and hit send,” Gabe said in a sort of mumble and mostly to himself.

Castiel heard a couple clicks and then there was a short pause before his arm exploded with pain. He would have jerked but he couldn’t move. The pain spread through his whole body. It was agonizing. He felt like he was on fire. The searing pain fled as quickly as it had come.

When it stopped, Castiel jerked and gasped. He started coughing and sputtering, barely even aware of Gabe taking off the arm band. Castiel realized now that up until this point, he hadn’t been breathing. The feeling of air entering and leaving his lungs felt like cold fire. Yes it did hurt, quite some bit, like breathing after holding your breath underwater. It also felt amazing, like he was extremely alive. It took several minutes for the wheezing coughs to stop. By that time Gabe had taken off the arm band and given Castiel a shot. He knew these two things because the place on his arm where the arm band had been was cold and empty. The shot had gone into his thigh, he could tell from the searing pain in that area. Castiel laid there on the small white bed, staring at the ceiling. He breathed slowly in and out, savouring every breath. The pain in his thigh ebbed to a dull throb.

Slowly, Castiel sat up. Gabe was sitting on the little chair, watching him with his hands on his knees. The two looked at each other for a short time before Gabe spoke.

“You want a look at yourself before I finish up and shunt you out?”

Castiel cocked his head to the side slightly. After several moments, he nodded slightly. Gabe got up and gently picked up a small square mirror off the small metal table. He held up the mirror so that Castiel could look into it.

He was mesmerized by the startling blue eyes that looked back at him. Something quickly drew his eyes away before he could take in the rest of his face. There was something large and black behind him.

Castiel furrowed his brow in confusion and turned his head. What he saw behind him made him freeze.


	3. Chapter 2

Wings. He, he had wings. No just small wings but huge black wings. He was completely speechless, not that he was even sure how to speak. But of course, who wouldn't be? Anyone would if they suddenly had massive wings.

Castiel reached back with his left hand and gingerly touched his own feathers. They felt almost unreal in how soft they were. The feathers didn't feel like normal feathers but so soft it felt like running your hands through cool water. He was completely awestruck.

Gabe purposefully coughed and Castiel jumped, turning to look at the other.

"Sorry to interrupt but we should finfish up here before Hannah tries to tan my hide."

Castiel nodded and sat still, trying to ignore his wings. Gabe flashed him a quick grin.

"M-kay. Let's get started."

Gabe picked up his clip board and a pencil. He flipped over the first page and glanced over the next. He nodded at what he read and made a couple of marks.

"Cool, you look like how you're supposed to, wings and all. Speaking of which, can you flex a wing just a wee bit? Not too far so you don't knock anything over but just enough to know they work."

Castiel made a strange expression, a combination of confusion and constipation, as he tried to move his left wing. It was surprisingly easy and it ended up shooting straight up in the air. It hit the ceiling lightly and Castiel looked up at it. He quickly drew it back down.

He instinctively tried to say 'sorry' but all that came out of his mouth was a strangled sound. It strained his throat and he started violently coughing.

"Whoa there, don't hurt yourself. Here, have some water," Gabe said, handing Castiel a small cup of water that had seemingly appeared out of nowhere.

Castiel gladly took the water and greedily drained the tiny cup.

"Right, well, only one more thing for me to check. Can you please wiggle your toes?"

Castiel did so and Gabe put down his clip board.

“Well, we’re done here. Nice meeting you, Castiel. Hope I don’t see you again in the infirmary,” Gabe chuckled, “you better get going before Hannah comes looking for you.”

Castiel left Gabe in his small room and joined the rest of his group. They all now had facial features. One looked like a lizard and one hovered above the ground about two feet. Several more had wings as well but of different colours than the black of Castiel’s.

The rest of the day went by in a blur. Hannah led the group from place to place, speaking softly occasionally. They were coached on speaking for a short while. They were shown around the complex that they were in. There were classrooms and bunkrooms and social rooms and training rooms.

By the time group two was shown to their bunkroom, Castiel’s head was spinning. He barely heard Hannah saying good night to the group as he located his bed. He found that his bed was a top bunk and just stared at it for a moment blankly. Lazily his eyes found the ladder up to his bed.

He slowly climbed the rough wooden rungs. The bed itself was barely long enough for him. He sat on it and ran his hands over the thin blanked on top. It was smooth and cool, almost like a pane of glass on a chill day. He sat cross-legged, running his hands idly over the blanket, mind both racing and blank at the same time until the lights were turned out.

Castiel blinked a couple of times before glancing around in the dark. He heard around him rustling as his group mates settled into bed. He followed suit, scooting around and crawling in under the covers. The sheets too were soft like the blanket. His pillow was plush and smelled like ozone. Not that Castiel knew what ozone was or how it smelled.

His wings weren’t a problem as he instinctively moved them slightly apart so that more of his back was on the bed. He quickly settled and the soothing bedding lulled him quickly to sleep.


	4. Chapter 3

It was bright and warm, but not bright like the white walls and lights of the complex. Everything around was very colourful, mostly green and yellow and brown. This place must have been a forest of some sort. A warm earthy scent hung happily in the air. Bee buzzing and bird song could be heard all around.

There was also another person there, holding Castiel’s hand. Castiel couldn’t focus on his face but the hand in his felt familiar and right, like it had always been there.   
He felt happy, walking through the forest, hand in hand with this other man.

It was such a nice day, the sky above the trees was a vibrant blue and the sunlight shone through the canopy. It left streaks of light through the slightly darker forest.   
The two kept walking, there was no path but they weren’t lost.

Castiel stopped when he heard a rustle in the bushes to his right. A deer came bounding out of them then ran off deeper into the forest. He turned to point it out to the other man but found that he was gone.

Castiel started panicking. He spun around in circles looking for the other man. The sun seemed to go out and the forest darkened. The bird song and bee buzzing stopped and an eerie quiet fell over the forest.

He began to run, trying to escape from something. As he did a chill settled over the forest. Pounding footsteps followed him. The trees seemed to get taller and larger around him. He tripped on a tree root and tumbled head over heels. With a thud, Castiel slammed into a tree. As shadow was advancing on him.

He heard a rough, deep laugh as darkness surrounded him.

Castiel violently jerked awake, a little too violently as his wings spasmed and sent him tumbling over the side of his bunk. He landed on the floor with a thud that knocked the breath out of him.

He lay there for a moment in confusion, catching his breath. When the ceiling looked familiar Castiel slowly, and painfully, sat up. He looked around and saw several of his group mates staring at him from their beds. The room was dead silent as a quarter of the room stared at Castiel sitting on the floor.

The silence didn’t last long as the door to the bunk room opened and Hannah stepped through. Heads turned to look at her and Castiel was released from the staring.

“Good morning Group Two!” Hannah chirped happily, “If you all would quickly get dressed, I will show you to the dining hall where you will be able to get some yummy food.”

Silence permeated the room in a thick blanket that seemed to even damper Hannah’s chipper mood. No one moved. Castiel looked around and saw everyone else was just staring blankly at Hannah.

Suddenly, something compelled him to stand. He struggled to his feet and walked slowly to Hannah. Eyes turned to watch him as he moved. Hannah gave him an appreciative smile, thanking him silently. Castiel reached her and stood by her side facing the rest of the long room.

A moment passed and then the other began slowly following Castiel’s example. It took about 5 minutes, but eventually the whole group was assembled. Hannah smiled and then spoke.

“Well, let’s get going, shall we?”

With that she turned and opened the door. She held it for the group and they all shuffled through. She jogged ahead and took the lead down the plain white corridor.

Castiel looked around every now and again but all he saw was white walls, white ceiling, the occasional white door, and his group mates. Their exposed body parts were the only colour in the area.

They walked for a short time before Castiel heard it. Voices, muffled but still voices, and laughter. Many, many voices all bleeding together. Castiel grew curious and looked around, trying to determine where the voices were coming from.

They seemed to be coming from down the hall in the direction the group was traveling. Castiel had the feeling that if he was patient then he would find out where the voices were coming from. As the group traveled down the white hall, the voices grew louder.

Eventually, Hannah stopped by a set of doors. She pushed them open and the source of the voices was revealed. Behind the doors is a massive room with many tables and chairs. At nearly every table there were other people seated, eating and talking.

A moment passed where group two didn’t move. Then without instruction, the group dispersed into the room. Some went and got food others went and sat at the few empty tables. Castiel was part of the prior group. He shuffled through the food line and ended up with a bowl of what the server called “porridge”. It looked just as plain as the walls of the compound. It was grayish, though; not white like everything else.

Castiel took his porridge and sat down at the last remaining empty table. He really didn’t feel like socializing and so he set to eating the bland, liquidy stuff called porridge. There had been more colourful (and probably more flavourful) dishes, but Castiel wasn’t really hungry or feeling particularly adventurous.

He was about halfway through his bowl when a gruff voice spoke to his right, causing him to jump slightly.

“Can I sit here?”

Castiel looked up at the person and recognized him as the tall, dark man from the day before. He froze and just stared at the man. The man sighed and shook his head before sitting down right next to Castiel.

“I know you have a voice,” the man grumbled, mostly to himself.

Castiel shifted uncomfortably and then turned his attention back to his highly uninteresting porridge. He could feel the tall man’s eyes boring into his skull. Castiel tried to ignore it for several moments but eventually broke. He looked up at the man sitting next to him.

“What do you want?” Castiel asked his voice quiet and small.

He had a bad feeling about this guy. The strange man glanced around before leaning closer to Castiel.

“I’m Robert, but call me Bobby. I’m not supposed to be here and my name is well known so don’t speak it,” he paused to glance around again, “you’re in danger Castiel. I don’t know what but I’ve been sent to make sure you don’t get yourself killed.”

“I don’t understand. How am I in danger, Bobby?” Castiel cocked his head to the side and furrowed his brow.

Bobby huffed and looked around.

“Just trust me, kid. Look, I have to go, just bein’ here is a major risk.”

Bobby stood to leave.

“Don’t do anything stupid, you hear?”

Castiel nodded and Bobby walked off, out of the room. Castiel stared at the door Bobby had just gone through for a couple of seconds before turning back to his porridge. He had lost his appetite and just stared at the grey slop, thinking about what Bobby had said to him.

Castiel’s thoughts were cut short by a bell ringing loudly through the room. He looked up and saw others getting up and getting rid of their dishes. He decided to follow suit and so stood. He followed some others to the garbage station and disposed of his leftover porridge.

He glanced around and spotted Hannah. He walked over to her, not knowing what else to do. She gave him a warm smile when he approached. They stood waiting for the rest of the group to congregate. At least, that’s what Castiel gathered as Hannah just stood silently as the group gathered around her like small children.

A sudden unexplainable feeling of concern, no, dread washed over Castiel as Hannah turned without a word. She silently led the small group out of the large room and down another white corridor.

The feathers on Castiel’s wings lifted slightly like the fur on a scared cat. He couldn’t shake this feeling of immanent doom. He really didn’t like that Hannah wasn’t talking.

Castiel looked around at his group members. None of them seemed to be reacting as he was. He decided to force the feeling to the back of his mind. In doing so, fragmented memories of his nightmare resurfaced.

He suppressed a shudder when he remembered the shadow and the voice. Castiel forced himself to focus on the happy half of the dream.

He was thinking about who the strange man was when the group stopped. Hannah had led them to a door at the end of a corridor. Castiel was amazed that anyone could find their way around in this white featureless world. Hannah turned to the group and spoke softly.

“Now, we are going into this room for your first briefing. There will be some other people and they will talk to you about The Gaurdians of Earth and your jobs. Please be quiet and don’t speak unless spoken to.”

The sense of dread was still tingling at the back of Castiel’s mind as Hannah opened the door. The group filled in and took seats at the long, rectangular table in the middle of the room., They had to sit dispersed as some of the seats were already taken by other individuals. Castiel sat down next to an older looking woman. She smiled at him warmly and some of the sense of dread faded from his mind. 

Castiel didn’t have time to take in the forms of the people opposite of him at the table as a familiar voice spoke.

“Good morning Group Two, and all other employees here.”

Heads turned to look at the speaker. It wasn’t possible to tell the speaker’s gender from either their voice or especially their appearance. They weren’t completely featureless but it was difficult to focus on any one feature of their face and so they seemed to have none. 

“Now, current employees, this is where you can tune out as you already know this information. I am Michael. I’m part of the high council of The Guardians of Earth. We oversee the work and going-on’s of The Guardians of Earth.”

Castiel suddenly recognized the sp- Michael’s voice. They had spoken to the groups yesterday when they had all arrived. It was only yesterday that they had arrived but to Castiel it felt like they had already been there forever.

“Now, to what The Guardians of Earth do. We protect the people of Earth and other planets as well. We don’t actually protect them on their physical plane.”

Michael went on talking about dimensions and energy but Castiel had tuned out. The feeling of dread had risen again and was gnawing at his mind. He glanced around the table but didn’t really take in any of the faces there. No, That was a lie. He took in precisely one face. The face of a man staring directly at him.

A chill ran down Castiel’s spine and his pulse quickened. The man looked angry and so, so familiar. Castiel tore his eyes away and tried to focus on what Michael was saying, but he couldn’t. He could feel the man staring at him.

Castiel wanted to run but he stayed still. Not even the feathers on his wings reacted to his fear. He forced himself to listen to Michael.

“Your group will be assigned to an Earth. Several of you will originally be from that earth. Now, I think I’ve bantered on for quite some time now. Why don’t we take a short break, there are some refreshments behind me.”

Michael stopped talking and Castiel groaned internally. He stood with the rest of the group. He now had no distraction from that man only, the man wasn’t staring at him anymore. At least, not in any way that Castiel could feel.

He followed the others toward the refreshments. He only got halfway form his seat to the table when he felt a presence behind him. The feathers on his wings and the hair at the back of his neck rose slightly. He thought he smelled a hint of something sharp and bitter in the air. He somehow knew the scent. Alcohol. 

Castiel turned and barely had time to take in the man’s face before he was attacked. The man punched him squarely in the nose. Castiel didn’t have time before another punch landed in his stomach, knocking the breath out of him. He fell to the ground, a trickle of blood coming from his nose.

He heard a shout and looked up to see the angry man being held back by two others. He was struggling and growling. Michael appeared in Castiel’s vision and spoke to the man.

“Zachariah.”

Michael’s voice was calm, but still full of anger. The man, presumably Zachariah, tore his gaze from Castiel and glared instead at Michael.

“Why did you attack this man, Zachariah?”

“’Cause he’s an abomination. That trash shouldn’t exist!” Zachariah spat angrily, his words slurred.

“You know the rules, Zachariah,” Michael sighed and shook his head slightly, “By the laws of The Guardians of Earth, and my position as high council member, I hereby banish you from The Guardians of Earth. You are never to return, ever. The assault of a fellow member and the consumption of alcohol is strictly prohibited. Take him away.”

The two holding him drug Zachariah away. He struggled and shouted one last thing before he was removed from the room.

“I’ll get you boy! You ain’t gonna escape from me you brat!”

Castiel was still on the floor, his eyes wide and his breath coming in quick gasps through his mouth. Michael stood still for a moment.

“Someone take Mr. Novak to the infirmary. His nose needs mending.”

Two sets of hands lifted Castiel from the floor. He staggered a bit as they led him out of the room.


	5. Chapter 4

“What the hell!?”

That was the first thing Castiel heard when he entered the infirmary. He looked up blearily and vaguely saw Gabe. He let his head drop. The pain was getting to him, that and the blood loss.

“Here, put him on this bed. I’ll deal with him.” Gabe said.

Castiel was lain on a bed and he vaguely heard footsteps leaving him. In a couple moments footsteps approached and Gabe appeared in Castiel’s vision.

“Jeez kid, this is the first time I’ve ever seen someone come in on their first full day her in this bad of shape.”

Gabe waved something over Castiel’s face. It made some beeping noises then began to emit a dull hum. The pain in Castiel’s face dulled and then faded completely. Gabe put the strange instrument down and Castiel heard him step away.

Castiel didn’t try to move, his stomach still in considerable pain. He just stared at the ceiling. That man, Zachariah, had seemed terrifyingly familiar.

Gabe returned quickly and Castiel lifted his head slightly to look at him.

“No, don’t move. I’m going to give you shot to boost your blood production.” Gabe said.

Castiel put his head down and closed his eyes. He felt the sharp stab of the needle and the dull ache that comes when medication is injected into your muscle. Gabe had decided his upper thigh was the best place for said shot. He seemed to have a strange affinity for giving shots there.

Castiel breathed slowly through his nose, which seemed fine now, before speaking.

“H-he punched me in the stomach too.”

He could see Gabe glance at him with a worried expression.

“Alright, I’ll be right back then.”

Gabe walked off and Castiel returned to his thoughts about who Zachariah was. He was mainly trying to think about anything besides the pain he was still in.

Gabe returned and Castiel heard the beeping and humming of whatever he had waved over Castiel’s face. The pain in his stomach faded and vanished. Castiel’s breathing deepend, no longer hindered by pain.

Gabe walked away and Castiel was left with his own thoughts again. His mind drifted to Zachariah’s face and he shuddered. Where had he heard that name before?

“You ok there?”

Gabe’s voice startled Castiel out of his thoughts.

“Yeah, just, thinking.”

Gabe nodded slightly, now in Castiel’s field of vision.

“I’m going to keep you here for a bit to let your body recover some.”

Castiel gave a noncommittal noise. A silence fell between the two of them. Gabe busied himself in what Castiel assumed was putting things away and tidying up. He lay still, letting his body do its thing. He could feel his heart beating in his stomach and his wings. Castiel cringed slightly, his wings suddenly uncomfortably pinned beneath him. He shifted slightly and a small jolt of pain shot through the fleshy parts of his wings. He then lay still, deciding not moving would be the best possible course of action at the moment.

“Gabe?” Castiel said after sometime.

“What is it, Castiel?”

“Do you know anyone named Zak- no-Zack- no, uh-“

“Zachariah,” Gabe supplied, less of a question and more of a swiftly punctuated statement.

“Yeah, Zachariah. He’s the guy who attacked me.”

Castiel heard Gabe exhale slowly.

“Yes, I’ve heard of him. Terrible, awful man.”

Gabe cut short and Castiel could sense that he should leave the conversation there.

The room fell silent again and Castiel just stared at the ceiling. Gabe left and Castiel could hear him distantly in a different part of the infirmary. He wondered where the other doctors had gone from-was it really only yesterday?

Castiel jerked awake to a cold hand on his face. Gabe was staring directly at him.

“Hannah’s here to get you. She says you have training.”

Gabe stepped back and Castiel sat up. Sure enough, just outside of the curtain was Amelia. She smiled kindly, no, sympathetically at Castiel.

“Hello, feeling any better?”

Her chipper voice dripped with badly concealed concern.

Something about that tone of voice and the way Hannah looked at him gave Castiel an uneasy feeling. The look just seemed so painfully familiar.

Castiel shook those thoughts away and swung his legs over the side of the tiny white bed. He stood and shifted his wings slightly. He could tell some of the feathers were rumpled.

Carefully he flapped his wings a tiny bit, making sure not to hit anything. A few dark feathers floated to the ground. Then he moved toward Hannah.

She smiled and turned. Castiel was starting to follow when he felt his upper arm being grabbed.

He turned and saw the hand belonged to Gabe. Gabe smiled and let go of his arm. He then extended his hand.

Castiel took the offered hand and shook it. A small pain spread across his palm but Gabe held tight, not allowing Castiel to remove his hand.

“I really hope I don’t see you in here again, Castiel.”

Gabe smiled and let go of Castiel’s hand. Castiel nodded at Gabe and turned to follow Hannah.

He looked at his palm but saw nothing. The whole strange exchange was quickly pushed from his mind as he followed Hannah down one of the many while hallways of the complex.

Castiel noticed that the complex was eerily silent. There was a strange sense of familiarity to it. He was reminded of somewhere dark and empty.

His thoughts were interrupted as Hannah stopped in front of a door. The door has no handle but Castiel could tell it was a door by the lines separating it from the surrounding wall.

Hannah placed her palm on the smooth surface. Castiel heard a small click and the door swung inward. The space beyond was surprisingly dark.

Hannah tuned her head to look at Castiel expectantly. He cocked his head to the side in confusion and she extended her arm to motion to the room beyond.

Castiel got the hint and went through the door. The room was pitch black for a moment then, with loud thunks, din incandescent lights lining the walls switched on in pairs.

Their soft yellow light was a nice contrast to the bright white of the rest of the complex.

With the addition of the light Castiel could now see he was standing in a very large, long room. The ceiling stretched up and away, lit with additional lights that had been set into it. At the far end of the room it looked like there was a platform set high onto the wall.

There was a soft click behind him and Castiel turned. Hannah smiled at him, the door now closed behind her.

“What is this place?” Castiel asked, breaking the suffocating silence.

“We call this room ‘The Aviary’, it is where you are going to learn how to use those wings of yours.”

Castiel turned his head to look at one of his wings. He moved it slightly to view it better. He hadn’t taken much time to actually look at his wings and he was reminded of just how big they were.

Hannah coughed slightly and Castiel turned his head to look at her. It was only then that he noticed she had no wings. He cocked his head to the side again in confusion.

Seeing his confusion, Hannah spoke, “Your teacher will be here soon, don’t worry.”

Castiel and Amelia spent a full, very silent and very awkward, minute staring at each other. At the conclusion of this minute the door to the room slowly opened. The two turned to look at the opening door and the person beyond.

A gray haired person with large silvery wings stood in the doorway. Like Michael, their gender was indeterminable. Their face was set in a scowl that looked permanent.

“Meg,” Hannah greeted tersely, which was completely out of character for her Castiel noted silently.

“Hannah.”

Meg’s response sounded forced and disdainful.

Hannah turned to look at Castiel.

“Well, I better get going. I’ll see you later, Castiel.”

With that, Hannah turned and shouldered past Meg to leave. Meg stepped further into the room and let the door shut behind them.

The two left in the room stared at each other silently. Meg eyed Castiel up and down then slowly circled him in complete silence. They paused behind him.  
Castiel felt a sharp pain in his wing and let out a startled “Ow!”.

He glanced back and saw Meg had begun walking again. He was about to speak but stopped. Meg was holding a black feather between their fingers, regarding it.

“How long have you been here?” Meg asked.

“W-What?” Castiel stammered.

Meg looked at Castiel with a slight glare. They looked irritated.

“How. Long. Have. You. Been. Here?” They said slowly.

Castiel swallowed.

“Two days?”

Meg sighed exasperatedly and dropped the feather. The two watched as it drifted gently to the ground.

“Have you fully extended your wings yet?” Meg asked.

“No…”

“Do it. Now.”

Castiel looked at Meg with a confused expression. Meg looked expectantly at him.

Castiel swallowed again and slowly extended his wings. It felt strange but nice, like stretching after waking up. He looked at one of them. The wing was long and, for the most part, sleek. There were several feathers sticking out at odd angles that interrupted the sleekness.

“Hmm, can’t say they aren’t nice and big,” Meg mumbled.

Castiel looked back at Meg who looked genuinely unamused. They extended their own wings quickly and almost suddenly were in the air.

Castiel watched in stunned awe as Meg flew quickly to the end of the room. They landed on the high platform.

He got the sense he was supposed to follow. Castiel folded his wings and started running to the far end of the room.

With how long the room was, it took a good two minutes for Castiel to reach the other end at a quick run. He got to a ladder leading up to the platform and held onto it, out of breath.

“Hurry up down there! I don’t have all of eternity!” Meg shouted down.

Castiel looked up the ladder, he couldn’t see Meg. Chest still heaving, he began to climb the ladder.

It was carved straight into the wall which made for some difficulty in climbing it. By the time Castiel reached the top his breathing had mostly returned to normal.

He clambered onto the platform. Meg was standing there scowling.

“Took you damn well long enough. Let’s get started.”

Meg turned and walked to the edge of the platform. Castiel followed, standing a step away from where the platform ended, dropping away to the floor far away. Castiel looked down, somehow the floor looked much farther away than seemed possible given how high the platform had seemed from the ground.

“If you fell from here, you’d probably die.”

Castiel’s head snapped up to look at Meg. There was a strange twinkle in their eyes. Castiel took a couple steps away from the edge

Castiel had a bad feeling about whatever was coming.

Castiel watched as Meg turned away from the edge and walked to the wall. They stood for a moment with their back to the wall. Meg glanced at Castiel briefly, a hint of a smirk touching their features, before sprinting toward the edge.

Castiel gasped in shock when they hurtled over the edge. Quickly he rushed over. For a moment he saw nothing then, silver wings unfurled just above the ground.

Meg glided over the ground for a good distance before flapping to fly higher. They banked at the end of the room, turning around.

Castiel scrambled away from the edge just in time for Meg to land lightly. They folded their wings and looked sourly at Castiel.

“Your turn.”

Castiel stared at Meg in dumbfounded shock.

“Go! NOW. Before I throw you off!” Meg shouted.

Castiel jumped at the sudden loud words. They set his heart racing for some reason. Quickly he dashed to the wall and faced away from it.

Meg was watching him with their arms folded.

Taking a deep breath Castiel ran toward the edge. At the last possible moment he chickened out and skidded to a stop. He looked over the edge, chest heaving.

“What was that!?” Meg bellowed.

Castiel startled and looked at them. They were visibly irritated and angry.

“We don’t have time to waste here!”

Castiel turned from the edge and went back to the wall. Meg watched him with a deep frown.

He tried again but with the same result.

Castiel wasn’t even aware that Meg had moved closer until their foot connected with his back, right between his wings. Castiel let out a startled noise as he began to fall.


	6. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay, been trying to fix my laptop. Finally got it fixed up!!

Castiel was frozen from shock for several moments as he fell toward the floor. By the time his brain caught up with the reality of the situation, Castiel was dangerously close to the floor.

Panicking, he flung his wings out. They caught the air and Castiel stopped falling.

He glided to the ground and skidded roughly to a halt, ending up on his hands and knees. He stayed like that, breathing heavily. His heart was pounding in his chest and he could hear a roaring noise in his ears.

He sensed a presence behind him. Terror chilled his veins. It was suddenly even harder to breath. Instinctively, he curled into a ball on the floor with his hands over his ears and his eyes shut tight. He didn’t know why he was reacting this way and he couldn’t stop it.

When a hand gently touched his shoulder, Castiel yelped and his eyes snapped open. They shot around wildly, not even really taking in what they were seeing.

Castiel vaguely felt the hand leave his shoulder and sort of saw Meg stand and slowly back away. He closed his eyes and just laid still, wishing these feelings away.

Eventually the panic and terror receded and his heart rate slowed. Slowly, Castiel opened his eyes and sat up. He looked up and saw Meg staring at him, their expression oddly soft and worried,

“You ok, kid?”

Castiel nodded, he really didn’t know what had just happened, but he felt better now.

“Alright, well, you wanna call it quits for the day?” Meg asked cautiously.

Castiel didn’t like the sympathy in Meg’s voice. He stood up folding his wings.

“No, I want to keep going.” He said.

Meg gave him an incredulous look.

“Uh, alright then. See you on the platform.”

With that, Meg alighted and flew to the high platform. Castiel watched them fly away.

Then he started the long sprint to the platform. He got there and quickly climbed the ladder, nearly slipping and falling off at one point. He took a moment at the top to catch his breath. Meg just watched silently.

Once he had sufficiently caught his breath, Castiel looked at Meg, trying to get some form of instruction.

“Well? Go on.” they said, the scowl back in place.

Castiel went to the wall again and faced away from it. His heart had suddenly picked up and a small tinge of fear showed itself in his mind. He pushed it away and took a deep breath. He had to get this right; he didn’t want to get kicked off the edge again.

Castiel braced himself then ran at the edge of the platform. He forced himself to jump. Once he started falling, Castiel extended his wings. They caught the air and he began gliding.

Vaguely, Castiel heard Meg shout “Flap!”

He did so, raising and lowering his wings. Suddenly, he wasn’t really gliding anymore. He felt exceptionally proud of himself, but that didn’t last long. He was rapidly approaching the wall.

Not knowing what else to do, Castiel stopped flapping. He kept his wings out through. That was, to say the least, a huge mistake. He continued forward and slammed face first into the wall.

Dazed, he fell to the floor with a thud that knocked the breath out of him. He stared up at the ceiling. He was in pain, but it wasn’t very bad. He heard the sound of wings and then running footsteps. Meg appeared beside him.

“You ok?”

“I think so,” Castiel responded, nodding.

Meg helped his to his feet.

“Let’s call it quits. Go get some rest.” Meg said.

Castiel nodded and left the room. The door clicked shut behind him. He looked both ways down the hall, suddenly realizing he didn’t know which way to go. He just picked a direction and started walking.

Somehow, he ended up exactly where he had intended to go; the group two barracks. The room was devoid of other people. Tiredly, Castiel found his bunk and climbed into bed. He laid down on his stomach, his wings covering him like a blanket. In seconds he was fast asleep.

The next day went by in a blur. Castiel and his group mates ended up in a morning class together that the instructor called “energy transfer and transformation”. Not much actually happened that class except introductions and breathing and visualization exercises.

After lunch, the group was separated and taken to different classes. Castiel and a few of his group mates went to a class for shape shifters. Again, not much happened besides breathing and visualization. A few students managed to manifest some different ears or a small tail. Castiel was not one of those students. He was sort of able to visualize what he was supposed to turn into. He couldn’t exactly tell what it was but it was small and dark in colour with a tail that he could only describe as ‘poofy’.

After that class, Castiel and his winged group mates were led off together. Castiel was confused when the small group arrived at the Aviary.

“Why are we all going here?” Castiel asked.

“Flying lessons. It is more time efficient to train multiple recruits at once,” the person escorting them said in a very monotone voice, “You missed lessons yesterday and so were given one-on-one training to catch you up to the rest of the class. Do you understand, Mr. Novak?”

Castiel nodded and then noticed the rest of his group was staring at him like he was stupid. He looked down at the floor, shrinking under their gazes.

The small group entered the Aviary together. There were more people inside. Castiel recognized Meg standing at the front of the group next to a beautiful man with bright pink wings and hair. 

The door clicked shut and Castiel’s group moved to join the others. Castiel trailed behind and stood at the back of the entire group. Some of the other students were chatting quietly.

After a moment the pink haired man clapped loudly twice and a hush fell over the room.

“Good afternoon my good feathered fellows,” the man said in a clear, bright voice that echoed off the high ceiling of the room, “I hope everyone is ready to fly today! In case any of you have forgotten, I am Lucifer and this in Meg. Well, let’s get to it then. Everyone to the perch.”

Lucifer turned around and started walking to the end of the room. Castiel and the other students followed him. Meg lagged behind and took up the rear of the group.

Castiel greeted Meg but they ignored him.

The group slowly but surely made their way across the long room and up the ladder to the high platform.

Meg made their way to Lucifer at the edge of the platform. The two faced their group of students.

“Alright. Now, I want all of you to line up against the back wall, facing me.” Lucifer said gently, as if speaking to a group of children.

His tone irked Castiel.

The winged students did as told, Castiel ending up near the end of the line by the ladder.

“Excellent!” Lucifer chirped, “We are all going to take turns gliding to the end of the room and then circling around back to the perch. Don’t worry if you don’t make it onto the platform, just land on the ground and use the ladder.”

There was a brief pause before Meg spoke.

“To turn mid-air, tilt one wing down. To turn Right, drop your right wing down and to turn left drop your left wing. I’ll quickly demonstrate.”

Meg stalked toward the row of students and stopped just a few feet from them. Meg then turned on their heel and sprinted at the edge. For a moment, after jumping off the edge, they were not visible. Then their silver wings appeared, gliding toward the end of the room.

Meg’s left wing dipped toward the floor and they banked left. Meg then repeated that move with their right wing. In what seemed like an instant, they flew back to the platform, or as Lucifer called it, the perch, with a few quick wing flaps. They landed lightly next to Lucifer.

Lucifer grinned at Meg then turned his attention to the group.

“Alright. One at a time, fly to the end of the room, doing a couple turns on the way, and them come back to the perch. If you have to land at any point, feel free to. Who’s first?” Lucifer said.

A small girl with pretty white wings stepped forward. She went first and, one by one, everyone followed. Castiel went somewhere in the middle. He was one of the many who had to glide to the ground.

Lucifer had them all repeat that exercise until their wings and lungs ached.

By the end of the class, Castiel was completely exhausted.

He and the rest of the class were led to dinner after Lucifer finally decided they were done for the day. After dinner, the exhausted students were led back to their respective barracks.


End file.
